With the continuous spread of the epidemic in many parts of the world, the global shortage of masks is still serious. Many countries have introduced various measures to gradually expand the supply of masks. Experts believe that, in view of the fact that the demand for masks will continue for some time, it is essential to strengthen global cooperation and strive to maintain and guarantee the stability of the supply chain industry chain.

The gap is not small, the global demand for masks has increased sharply
During the period of fighting against the epidemic situation, masks are regarded as key resources, and the contradiction between supply and demand is prominent. In Europe, the demand for masks will continue to expand in the future with the lifting of the ban policy by many governments and the improvement of people's awareness of self-protection. In Italy, Spain and other countries, masks are still in serious shortage and prices are soaring; in Belgium, people need to rely on doctors' prescriptions to buy masks in a limited amount; German economy minister altmeer said recently that if the government forces people to wear masks in the process of shopping and taking public transport, the supply of masks in Germany should reach at least 8-10 billion a year "Our production of masks has increased from 3.3 million per week before the outbreak to 10 million per week at present," President Marcon said during a recent visit to the local mask production department. But there is still a big gap from the demand of 40 million a week. "
According to the European Center for Disease Control and prevention, it takes an average of 15 N95 masks per day to treat a confirmed patient. Within the European Union, the daily demand for this type of mask alone exceeds 10 million. The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report saying that the protective performance of cloth masks to viruses cannot be compared with that of standard medical masks. However, under the current shortage of masks, it is still recommended that the public can choose cloth masks temporarily.
In the United States, as some States gradually restart the economy, people's demand for masks has risen sharply. The U.S. federal government distributes masks to health agencies from the national strategic reserve, but admits that reserves alone cannot meet state level needs. FEMA said it would give priority to hospitals, medical institutions and nursing homes across the country.
On April 17, the Japanese government began to mail each household two cloth masks that can be repeatedly cleaned and used. Japanese TV stations teach people to make their own masks with materials they already have in their homes. As the epidemic eases, the food and drug safety agency of South Korea announced a plan on April 24 to increase the number of masks each person can buy per week from two to three.
Production capacity fully opened, multi-national efforts to resolve the contradiction between supply and demand
In order to alleviate the serious imbalance between the supply and demand of masks, since the end of March, the European Commission has issued guiding policies to ensure that the free circulation of goods in the EU single market is not restricted, especially to ensure the smooth supply chain of medical materials and open up green logistics channels. The EU also adopts a unified public procurement policy to purchase personal protective equipment such as masks, which are then distributed in proportion to the needs of Member States. The European Commission recently decided to allocate 3 billion euro from the EU budget to establish the "save Europe" strategic medical equipment savings bank.
EU member states have expanded the supply of masks by expanding the production capacity of enterprises and guiding enterprises to change production. Michelin, vergia and other French auto parts manufacturers have promised to switch to the production of masks, ventilators and other medical equipment. Sala, a Spanish fashion fast consumer clothing brand, decided to use its global production network to produce masks and other necessities that are in short supply in the market. The German government will pay 30% of the cost for companies that start producing raw materials for masks by the end of this year.
The United States used the defense production act to require some enterprises to produce N95 masks for medical and other emergency personnel. 3M, Honeywell international and haliyadh will produce 39 million N95 masks in the next three months. However, according to the U.S. Department of health and human services, the United States needs to produce 300 million N95 masks a month. At present, clothing manufacturers in the United States are also sewing ordinary masks.
Since February this year, the Japanese government has provided subsidies of up to 200 million yen (about 107 yen per dollar) to enterprises that import equipment to produce masks. Some enterprises that did not engage in the production of masks have switched to the production of masks. Sharp, for example, has been producing masks in the triple factory that produces LCD screens since March, and has been selling them on its website since April 21, and Panasonic will start producing masks from the end of May. South Korea began to take measures in March to encourage enterprises to start work on weekends to increase the production of masks. At present, the daily supply of masks in South Korea exceeds 9.7 million.
It is very important to strengthen cooperation and stabilize global supply chain
Alec Stapp and Caleb watney, researchers at the R Street Institute, a us think tank, believe that the public may need to continue wearing masks for 3-18 months before effective vaccines or drug treatments are found, and the global demand for masks is expected to increase.
As the shortage of masks is likely to continue for a long time, some European governments and manufacturers have begun to consider expanding the production of mask raw materials locally to reduce their dependence on the global supply chain. Experts believe that localized production can expand the supply of masks to a certain extent, but it will further increase the supply cost, which is difficult to achieve in the short term.
Gompels, head of gompels, a British mask manufacturer, said masks are a labor-intensive and capital intensive industry and European countries do not have a competitive advantage in this respect. The Federation of German chambers of Commerce and industry warned against falling into a "protectionist trap" in the competition to move production lines home.
Breton, member of the internal market Affairs Committee of the European Commission, said that at present, local European manufacturers have made their best efforts to expand the production capacity of masks, some of which have even doubled, but still can not meet the rapid growth of demand. Therefore, to ensure the smooth international procurement channel is the necessary way to solve the problem of masks.
Lin Xueping, general manager of Beijing lianxun power consulting company, told our reporter that although the mask is small, it is the integration of global supply chain